NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street's major averages opened noticeably lower on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 319.27 points, or 1.15 percent, to 27,497.63. The S&P 500 decreased 44.83 points, or 1.33 percent, to 3,335.97. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 193.41 points, or 1.71 percent, to 11,133.10.
All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors dropped, with technology down about 1.7 percent in morning trading, leading the losses.
Trump said early Friday morning that he and his wife Melania have tested positive for COVID-19, after a close aide contracted the virus.
Market sentiment was dented as the president's diagnosis added more uncertainty to the election, experts noted.
A worse-than-expected U.S. September jobs report also weighed on the market.
U.S. employers added 661,000 jobs in September, pushing the unemployment rate down by 0.5 percentage point to 7.9 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a jobs gain of 800,000.
This compares to an upwardly revised 1.49 million jobs gains in August, when unemployment rate fell by 1.8 percentage points to 8.4 percent, indicating a slowing recovery in the labor market ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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